BOX SCORE

Junior Jillie Johnston (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) scored her first goal of the season in the 99th minute to send the seventh-seeded High Point University women's soccer team to the finals of the Big South Women's Tournament with a 1-0 win over Radford in the semifinals Friday night in Charleston, S.C. The Panthers will face No. 8 Winthrop in the finals on Sunday at 2 p.m.

"I thought we played really well tonight," said head coach Marty Beall. "You got to give a lot of credit to Radford and their defending. Especially their goalkeeper, she was brilliant tonight. I think tonight shows the resilience of this squad and how bad they want to win the championship."

Johnston connected with a header in the final minute of the first overtime, breaking a scoreless stalemate and giving HPU the 1-0 win. Sophomore Laura Shupe (Cary, N.C./Green Hope) lofted a fantastic cross into the box to earn the assist.

"We talked at halftime and before overtime about the importance of getting the ball wide and getting quality service into the box," said Beall. "Shupe delivered a perfect cross and Jillie rose to the challenge and finished for us."

Senior Marisa Abbott (Troy, N.Y./Tamarac) made seven saves to earn her second straight shutout and her seventh of the season. Abbott's best save came in the overtime period when she dove to her right to stop a Radford shot and preserve the 0-0 tie.

High Point controlled the run of play through much of the game outshooting Radford, 24-17 including a 14-7 edge in shots on goal. Second-team All-Big South goalie Lisa Lubke made 13 saves to keep the Highlanders in the match including a fingertip-save on a shot by junior Sara Rager (Silver Spring, Md./Paintbranch) with just seconds remaining in regulation.

The will be HPU's first trip to the finals since 2007 when they defeated Coastal Carolina,on penalty kicks and the fourth in seven seasons. It is the first time in Big South women's soccer history that the bottom two seeds will meet in the finals.

High Point will return to action on Sunday at 2 p.m., when the seventh-seeded Panthers will play the eighth-seeded Eagles of Winthrop in the Big South Championship Final. The two teams played to a 0-0 double-overtime tie in Rock Hill, S.C. in their only meeting this season.